Evaluation of Changes in Heart Rate Variability Associated with Puppy Growth Using Phase-Rectified Signal Averaging (PRSA) and Non-Gaussianity Index

Heart rate variability (HRV) reflects autonomic nervous system (ANS) activity through nonlinear mechanisms, including complex beat-to-beat fluctuations and chaos-like dynamics of healthy cardiac rhythms. However, conventional HRV indices often show inconsistent interpretations of sympathetic activity across studies, making its evaluation difficult. Recently, nonlinear indices such as Acceleration Capacity (AC), Deceleration Capacity (DC), and the non-Gaussianity index have been introduced to separately evaluate sympathetic and parasympathetic nervous activity. We hypothesized that these indices are applicable in dogs and could reflect age-related changes in ANS function. This study provides the first longitudinal evaluation of nonlinear HRV indices, including AC, DC, and the non-Gaussianity index, during puppy growth, highlighting new insights into autonomic maturation in young dogs. HRV was longitudinally measured in eight healthy puppies (4 to 12 months old) of various breeds every two months. HRV analysis was conducted during sleep using 48-h Holter ECG recordings. We applied frequency-domain (nHF, LF/HF), time-domain (SDNN, RMSSD), geometric (SD1, SD2, SD1/SD2), and nonlinear analyses (AC, DC, non-Gaussianity index). Parasympathetic indicators (RMSSD, SD1) and overall HRV indices (SDNN, SD2) significantly increased with age, while the sympathetic indicator AC significantly decreased. No significant changes were observed in nHF, LF/HF, SD1/SD2, DC, or the non-Gaussianity index. HRV analysis suggests that puppies are initially sympathetic-dominant, shifting toward parasympathetic dominance as they grow. AC may serve as a useful marker of sympathetic activity in young dogs, whereas DC and the non-Gaussianity index may provide stable ANS assessments regardless of age.